Creating change
Creators are changemakers, and Unity is their platform for making an impact. People around the globe are using Unity to tell stories or build tools that will have a positive and meaningful impact on society, their communities, and the planet. We founded Unity for Humanity to celebrate and support their journey to change lives and improve our world.
The Unity for Humanity 2022 Grant
We empower creators by offering funding, mentorship, and technical support for their RT3D social impact projects. We are awarding $500K as a part of the UFH 2022 Grant, including a special Imagine Grant in partnership with Common to the project that best Imagines a Better World.
Applications closed December 3. Stay tuned for announcements in 2022.
Previous Unity for Humanity Grants
Each year we run a grant for social impact creators. We also collaborate with impact-driven organizations such as Rare Beauty’s Rare Impact, Project Drawdown, and the United Nations Environment Programme to design grants focused on specific impact areas.
In 2021, we also supported artists at Tribeca. Awarding $675K across all grant initiatives.
Guiding principles
Promoting empathy, respect, and opportunity: We celebrate and support creators with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.
Amplifying impact: We provide opportunities for creators to realize a more sustainable and inclusive world.
Community engagement: We foster a social impact creator community grounded in inclusion to empower changemakers.
See how creators use Unity to drive meaningful change.
Check out a few of the Unity for Humanity awarded projects and discover more social impact innovations built on Unity in the Changemakers Showcase.
Ahi Ka Rangers
2020 Grant Recipient
Designed using Māori frameworks, this ecological mobile game raises awareness about sustainability and collects citizen science data to educate and inspire new activists.
Apart of Me
Rare Impact Grant recipient
Built by experts to help young people deal with grief and loss, Apart of Me provides in-game checkpoints for players to connect with supportive organizations and other youth when they’re feeling low or vulnerable.
DOT’S HOME
2020 Grant Recipient
Follow a Black woman living in her grandmother’s Detroit home amid redlining and gentrification to ask “How did your family end up where they are, and how much choice did they have?”
Future Aleppo
2020 Grant Recipient
Based on the model that Mohammed Kteish constructed before his city was destroyed, this VR experience is a tool for refugee children to recreate their cities and process trauma.
Our America
2020 Grant Recipient
Inspired by the creator’s lived experience of being Black in America, Our America uses narrative VR to tell the story of a Black father and son who are pulled over while driving to school.
Samudra
2020 Grant Recipient
Adventure across a polluted sea in this hand-illustrated 2D puzzle game. Uncover the “surface-dweller” actions threatening the oceans and learn how to create positive environmental change.
Clean A\R
2019 Grant Recipient
Using modelled air quality data from King’s College, the Clean A\R app helps visualize the pollution in a user’s location to raise awareness, change policy, and improve air quality.
Terminal 3
2018 Grant Recipient
This interactive AR documentary explores contemporary Muslim identities in the U.S. through the lens of an airport interrogation, asking players to question a passenger and decide whether to let them into the country – or not.
Unity for Humanity Summit 2021
This fully virtual, one-day summit celebrates creators around the world who are using real-time 3D (RT3D) to make a positive impact on society and the planet. Engage with them and their impact-driven work across these themes:
- Education and Inclusive Economic Opportunity
- Digital Health and Wellbeing
- Environment and Sustainability
- Tools for Changemakers
The Unity for Humanity Grant FAQs
Project(s) eligible for submission must be a prototype or a project in any stage of production. The Unity for Humanity grant accepts any project genre (game, XR, film, solution) created with any RT3D platform.
All projects must be impact-driven, meaning that they have measurable impact goals and/or calls to action and/or encompass themes of social, healthcare, education, humanitarian and environmental issues. Our April 2021 grant is for environment and sustainability-themed projects, stories and solutions. Projects must also align with at least one of the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Please note that the Grant cannot be awarded to individuals. Please submit your application via a legal entity (e.g., a production company, studio, etc.).
The Unity for Humanity program supports real-time 3D content that is social impact-driven. We will not accept projects or content that include or promote hate, violence, bullying, harassment, threats against individuals or groups of people, or illegal content. Our aim is to foster an inclusive, sustainable social impact creator ecosystem.
All projects must be impact-driven, meaning that they have measurable impact goals and/or calls to action, and/or encompass themes of social, healthcare, education, humanitarian, or environmental issues. Projects must also align with at least one of the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
We will not accept projects that include or promote hate, violence, bullying, harassment, threats against individuals or groups of people, or illegal content. Our aim is to foster an inclusive, sustainable social impact creator ecosystem.
As a part of the Unity for Humanity 2022 Grant, we are awarding one Imagine Grant in partnership with Common to the project that best inspires audiences to ‘Imagine a Better World’.
A single project cannot receive both the Imagine Grant and a Unity for Humanity 2022 Grant, but you can apply for both via the same application.
We encourage projects to apply that are charitable in nature and/or affiliated with a nonprofit organization. If your project is not charitable in nature, we still encourage you to apply, and ask you to indicate this on your application in the field provided.
The countries and individuals the United States has introduced sanctions against are prohibited from applying. At present, this includes: the Crimea Region of Ukraine, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria.
Unity for Humanity Grant recipients are selected using the following criteria:
- Vision (25%)
- Inclusion (25%)
- Impact (25%)
- Viability (25%)
For our 2022 call, projects that self-identify to apply for the Imagine Grant or are nominated by the judges to be considered for the Imagine Grant must ‘Imagine a Better World.’
In addition to the general Unity for Humanity evaluation criteria, the Imagine Grant recipient will be judged based on these focus areas:
- Positive future of humanity
- Based in real issues
- Inspiration for change
- Imagination
- Motivation
- Inclusive team
- Diverse audiences
All applications must be submitted in English. We work with creators with varying levels of English ability. Videos or trailers in a language other than English must have subtitles. The project itself does not need to be in English, however, there must be subtitles or translations provided (if applicable) so that the judges can properly review.
Creators must fill out the Unity for Humanity Grant application. Applicants will be asked to provide a pitch deck in PDF format and a link to a video sample or trailer of the project. There are short essay questions on the application which ask the applicant to outline their motivation for creating the project.
- Information about the team and company
- Key art from the project (in-progress work accepted)
- Production budget with a plan for use of Unity funding, if received
- Information on key stakeholders/partners
- Production timeline, distribution timeline, and detailed distribution plan
- An Impact Plan with the project’s impact goals and how they will be achieved
Unity employees and/or internal representatives from a variety of vertical teams across Unity will review projects along with Unity for Humanity program managers.
If the grant is in partnership with another organization, representatives from the organization will also serve as guest judges to select the grant recipients.
We will make grant recommendations from a pool of $500,000 USD to Unity’s Charitable Fund, a fund of the Tides Foundation. In addition, Unity will provide 8 hours of technical support from the Unity Professional Services team (to be used within a one year period) as well as bespoke marketing and mentorship support.
No further action is required. You will receive a confirmation email and we will review all projects submitted. If we need additional information from a project we will reach out directly. Only Unity for Humanity Grant recipients will be notified. Thank you for submitting your application!
Unity partners with the Tides Foundation to set up the Donor Advisor Fund (DAF) for charitable purposes. If the project created by your team is selected, we will recommend your team as a potential grantee, subject to Tides’s review process for eligibility. This process can take anywhere from two to six weeks and is a secondary review process.
The deadline date and time are indicated in the Pacific Time Zone. Please give yourself ample time to submit in case of issues within your submission process.
Opens: Monday, October 11, 2021 at 12:00 am PT
Closes: Friday, December 3, 2021 at 11:59 pm PT
No, unfortunately we are not able to grant extensions for applications.
Yes, you can reapply to Unity for Humanity, so long as your project meets the requirements, theme, and criteria. If a project has previously received a Unity for Humanity Grant, it is not eligible for additional funding, however, you are welcome to reapply with a new project.